Indifference
by Yugao
Summary: Neji discovers that maybe he was more used to her constant attention than either of them thought. NejiTenten


**_Indifference_**

_**Yugao**_

**_Summary: _**Tenten was torturing him, even as she sat there quietly, polishing her weapons. It seemed Neji enjoyed her attention more than either of them realized.

**_Author's Note: _**I am a very lost kid stuck at home with a laptop, without any social obligations whatsoever all throughout Christmas break. Well, not entirely… but I do have quite a lot of free time on my hands. This was thought up long ago, but wasn't written until very recently. Please enjoy! So it's very _mildly _Nejiten, with a bit of my sick, sardonic humor somewhere in the middle. It focuses more on Neji than it does on the couple itself.

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own Neji and/or Tenten.

* * *

It was midday, and the sky was a cheerful shade of blue underlined by wisplike clouds. A soft breeze cut through the noonday sun's heat, a welcome respite in the height of summer. The wind blew amidst trees, bushes, and shrubbery, to make all sorts of pleasant rustling. In the distance one could've heard the burbling of a brook, or was it the crash of a waterfall? It was truly too far away to tell. 

What was obvious was that the still air was devoid of a human voice.

Neji's pallid eyes narrowed. Something was definitely different. But what was it, exactly? He had gotten up around the same time, wore the same clothes (or at least the same style – no one was going to accuse _the _Hyuuga Neji of not doing his laundry), ate the same food, met the same people all day.

He stood up, pushing himself off the tree trunk in his attempt to do so, as he thought back to the past few days and what set this one apart from the rest. Maybe, with careful scrutiny, he could finally discern why it was so darned quiet.

_Let's start with yesterday, _he decided, as he started pacing the length of Team Gai's usual training area. _From when I woke up – let's see. I woke up after a peaceful, dreamless sleep…

* * *

_

_Neji yawned as he pushed the covers off himself. He was not a morning person, and everyone knew it – he was thankful, however, that no one ever saw the physical proof of such a claim. If they did, he was sure all the sleazy tabloids in Konoha – if there were any, that is – would have his face plastered on the front page, accompanied by a wild and not-quite-truthful cover story. _

_And he would rather lick Hinata-sama's shoes clean before he let anyone see how he looked first thing in the morning._

_He grumbled as he slowly made his way to the mirror, peering at himself through his still sleep-filled eyes. His usually so flawless, perfect, dark brown hair was in various forms of displeasing disarray; his mysterious pale eyes were open only to a half-mast thanks to his still-groggy state. _

_Oh yes. Anyone seeing him first thing in the morning would be Hyuuga Neji's worst nightmare.

* * *

_

Neji continued to pace, and he was starting to wear the slightly tall grass down with his repetitive treading. _And after I got ready, _he recalled, _I headed off to our team's training area to meet my sensei and my teammates.

* * *

_

"_Today, students, I have taken the liberty of scheduling your training sessions in order to enhance your weak points! Remember that it is only through rigorous and repetitive training that young aspiring ninja become truly successful…" _

_Surely Gai-sensei's speech was much longer and several times more colorfully worded, but all the details were rather blurry to Neji. He guessed the reason to be selective amnesia, but he wasn't quite sure._

_And that day, as on all days, he got paired up with Tenten, whereas Lee was matched with their… erm… very… enthusiastic mentor. Their matching bowl-cuts, green spandex suits, and blinding smiles made them the perfect pair, and he was almost somewhat grateful. Just the thought of him being in that spandex suit instead of Lee…_

_Note to self, Neji reminded: never envision self in tight-fitting green spandex, no matter how hot you think you are.

* * *

_

His pacing continued, and he had well formed a noticeable track over the place he had been treading through. _And afterwards, Tenten and I trained together until sunset…

* * *

_

_Her face was slightly flushed from training, yet a smile lit up her face. "That was great, Neji. You're a genius!" she said with a chuckle as she had begun to pick up the kunai, shuriken, and senbon needles that had gone astray in their tousle (a word which couldn't aptly describe such an intense exchange of blows). _

_He smirked, in an "I already knew that, you didn't have to tell me but thanks anyway," sort of way. He didn't answer._

_He never did.

* * *

_

Neji's eyebrows knotted slightly as he looked around for Tenten. So that's what was wrong – where was Tenten in all this? He found her sitting beneath a tree, calmly humming to herself as she polished an already blinding lei sword. Her usually warm brown eyes were focused on the task at hand. Her dark brown hair, as always, was tied up in two buns. Her pink cheongsam-style shirt was stained slightly with wax and steel polish, but other than that, she seemed no different.

"Tenten!" his voice took an edge for some reason.

She didn't look up from her work, and was too busy inspecting a strange nick in the sword. "Something wrong, Neji?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Say something."

This time, she looked up at him. "… Something."

"Very funny," he snapped. "You've been ignoring me all day."

She raised an eyebrow. "No I haven't. I've just had better things to do than gape at you all of today, Neji. Is something bothering you?" she asked casually as she tilted the sword to catch the light.

"Yes, something really is getting on my nerves," he answered scathingly, "Why don't you tell me what's wrong already?"

Tenten shrugged. "Okay. I think there's a little chip in the steel where it shouldn't be; could it have been forged inconsistently for the metal to just…crack like that? It hasn't even been used yet."

"Tenten."

"Neji?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Oh. What did you mean, then?"

His eyes narrowed. Was she doing this on purpose, or did she genuinely have no idea what he was talking about? "Why have you not been talking to me all day?" he demanded.

"I have," was the quick reply, "And I still am, if you haven't noticed."

He groaned. This conversation was getting nowhere, and it was bound to go nowhere especially if Tenten had made up her mind not to let it. But why was he so bothered, anyway? She _did _talk to him docilely, proving that she wasn't angry with him like he thought before. But what was it that annoyed him so much? Why was it that her sudden detachment and lack of interest dissuaded him so easily? He folded his arms across his chest and looked her in the eye. She stared back, bored and unaffected when most people would've long flinched and run for cover. "Tenten."

She humored him, flashing a wide grin that didn't seem to match the disinterest in her brown eyes. Her voice was sugarcoated with a shrill, high-pitched tone, even more than usual. "Yes, Neji? Is something wrong, or was there something you needed?"

He raised an eyebrow at her sarcasm, but he didn't reply straightaway. Instead he sat down beside her on the grass, leaning back against the same tree trunk. "So," he said quietly, "Tell me what's been going on with you lately."

Tenten scoffed, "Nothing interesting," before she could stop herself.

"I'm listening," he answered sincerely, his eyes meeting hers.

Those two words were the only encouragement she needed; she started to put all her frustrations into words, paused every now and then to watch him for a reaction, or perhaps to laugh at the pettiness of some of her own problems. Suddenly, she stopped again, this time her eyes were fixed on him. "Neji?" she asked uncertainly, hesitatingly.

"What is it, Tenten?" he asked lightly.

"You're smiling," she said, her lips curling upwards in a grin as well.

So he was. He wasn't quite sure why, but…

Maybe he was more used to her constant attention than he had ever realized.

**_Author's Note: _**Thanks for reading! Please tell me what you think with a review. (Hahaha, Neji's an attention-hungry li'l brat! Hahahaha! Um… okaaaay. I just weird myself out.)


End file.
